How do you create a shortcut in the SendToFolder for all users with WiX?

Question

When I try to create a shortcut in the SendTo folder for all users in WiX, I receive the following error:

warning LGHT1076 : ICE91: The shortcut 'MY SHORTCUT NAME' will be installed to the per user directory 'SendToFolder' that doesn't vary based on ALLUSERS value. This file won't be copied to each user's profile even if a per machine installation is desired.

At the moment, I'm creating the shortcut as a non-advertised shortcut that exists as a sub-element of the File element that it references.

Is there a way to make this shortcut available for all users?

This article on SuperUser indicates that you can create a SendToFolder in all users, but I can't see how to do that from WiX.

Another article suggests that you can use the self-healing capabilities of MSI to make the shortcut re-install itself for all users, but unless I'm misunderstanding it, you need to use an advertised shortcut, and advertised shortcuts won't show up in the send to menu.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Creating a "SendTo" folder in the "All Users" profile and putting links in it doesn't have any effect (I tested it). There is no location where you can put "SendTo" links for all users.

You could write a custom action which copies the link to the right location for each user, but this won't work for user accounts that are created after your software is installed.

I therefore think that this cannot be done right in the installer. I would put the logic for handling this in the application itself: do a check at start-up, and copy the link to the SendTo folder if it is not yet present.

Answer 2

This is impossible from the installer. I ended up reworking the spec and putting the link directly into the context menu, rather than in send to sub-menu.